Sun Born
Chapter One
When Helen regained her consciousness, her head was throbbing painfully and a cough shook her petite frame. An old man was leaning over her, concern masking his features as her stared down at her.
“Are you all right, child?” he questioned as she pressed a hand against her forehead, her face pulled together in a grimace. “Your head’s bleeding, I suggest you go to a hospital. Do you need a ride there?”
“No, I’m fine, thank you,” she replied, her voice turning raspy as another cough shook her body. The old man’s frown deepened, and Helen forced out a warm smile. “Really, I’m fine. I’m nearly home, and just need some resting.”
The gray-haired man nodded, his eyes glancing at her forehead before nodding again. “If you say so. You better get back to your school though. It isn’t healthy for a fledgling to be away from the House of Night for too long.” Helen winced at his words but he kept on speaking. “I shall be off then, if you’re sure you don’t need any help.”
“I’m all good,” Helen replied, pulling herself of from the sidewalk. Her head throbbed even more and the world spun for a moment, before she regained her balance and smiled again at the man. ”See? Just peachy. It’s late, I suggest you should be getting home.”
The man nodded slowly, narrowing his eyes at her before saying a good bye and wishing her good luck. After a couple of moments, he had disappeared down the street and Helen put both of her hands to her head.
She couldn’t believe it. How could
she, Helen Charles, have been
marked? She, who despised darkness and was terrified of vampyres and fledglings, was chosen to become a part of that world? How could she possibly fit in there?
Helen decided not to waste her energy thinking about it now, but instead put he focus on getting home. She did not know what the time was now, but she must have been out for a while because she could only hear occasional cars driving down the highway a couple of blocks away.
Picking up her guitar case and making sure that no harm had been done to her instrument, she pressed a hand to the back of her head, where a wound was steadily bleeding, and began making her way home.
During her walk home, she had to stop walking multiple times when a cough consumed her body, shaking it like a ragdoll in the wind. After what seemed like eternity, she got to her apartment and struggled for three minutes until she managed to unlock her door, pushing it open. The door made a sound like a rusty squeak, before everything returned to the same eerie silence.
Her apartment was consumed by darkness, and she quickly switched on the light, her tense shoulders relaxing when the hallway was flooded with light. She took in the slightly messed up apartment and calmed down further, realizing that she was finally
home, after the long night she had had.
She recklessly kicked off her shoes and carefully placed her guitar case down on the cold stone floor, before making her way towards her bathroom, turning the lights on in every room she passed. She lived alone in her apartment, due to the fact that her parents passed away two years ago. The commune wanted her to move in with someone else, but Lavender helped sort things out so that she could live alone. The apartment wasn’t much, nor was it flashy, but it was home and that was all that mattered to Helen.
Though now it’s not home anymore, is it? I’m forced to move, if I don’t want to die, she thought bitterly to herself as she flicked the light on in the bathroom. The light blinked once, before lighting up the room in a warm glow. She removed her hand from the back of her head, getting a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach as she saw that it was covered in blood.
Maybe I should get that checked up on, she thought, coughing painfully. No, she did not have a car nor did she have the endurance to call for a cab. She would just clean the wound herself and go to bed.
The process itself took longer than she thought it would, and when she finally was done and had her head covered in a bandage, her eyelids were drooping and she was yawning every few moments. She got ready for bed, but didn’t have the strength to change into pajamas. The moment her head hit her pillow, she was fast asleep, despite the throbbing headache she had.
Helen woke up early in the morning by a coughing fit and the sunshine streaming in through her window. The sunshine seemed to make it all worse, and she covered her eyes with her hands and let out a quiet grown, before crawling out of bed and towards her closet. She grabbed the first set of clothes she could find and walked to the bathroom like a zombie. She coughed violently again, and she knew that she would have to leave for the Chicago House of Night today.
She got dressed and ready for the day, making sure that her wound was okay, and then walked back to her room, grabbing a suitcase from her bed and packing the things she could not live without – some clothes, most of the music records she owned, her recorder and a few extra things. Her guitar already stood waiting for her out in the hallway, which was the most important thing of all. After dumping her bag in the hallway she reached for a phone and speed-dialed Lavender’s number. Lavender picked up on the third ring, her voice cheerful even though it was still early in the morning.
“Lavender Brown,” she greeted into the phone, her light voice managing to calm Helen down. “Whom am I speaking to?”
“It’s me,” Helen replied, her voice coming out raspy, and for a moment she wondered if Lavender would recognize her voice. “It’s Helen. I need your help.”
“Oh honey, are you sick? You don’t sound very well,” Lavender said, concern coating her words, and Helen could practically see her frowning.
“I think it’s best if you come here,” she said. “I can’t really explain over the phone.”
“Of course honey, I’ll be there as quickly as possible!” Lavender chirped, before hanging up on the phone. Helen disconnected the call and rubbed her eyes, putting the phone away. She coughed again, which was starting to bother her immensely, but at least the throbbing headache had toned down a bit.
She turned around and glanced at herself in the mirror in the hallway. Her usually tanned skin looked sickly pale in comparison to the sapphire crescent moon outline perfectly positioned in the middle of her forehead, and her blond hair looked longer. Her brown eyes looked darker than they usually did, and she had dark circles under her eyes. The bandage that wrapped around her head didn’t help matters either.
Helen spent nearly a full hour staring at her mirror image. The more she looked, the more like a stranger she seemed to become, until finally she almost couldn’t recognize herself. Luckily enough, the doorbell saved her before she could go mental.
She took a deep breath as she opened the door, meeting Lavender’s eyes that widened when they caught sight of her. Lavender’s hand flew up to cover her mouth.
“My poor baby! What happened to your head?” She exclaimed, hurrying inside the apartment to assess the damage done on Helen’s head. Helen noted that she had not yet seen the mark that was placed on her forehead, and pushed her away, forcing Lavender to look at her until she noticed the crescent moon outline.
When Lavender’s mouth opened slightly and she noticeably paled, Helen knew that she had noticed the mark, that showed that she had now become a fledgling, who was going to go through the change to become a vampyre and – hopefully – not die.
“I need to leave,” Helen said quietly after a coupe of heavy moments. “I need to go to the Chicago House of Night before I die, and I need you to drive me there.”
“I, uh, I – yes, yes of course. I can do that,” Lavender stammered, before surprising Helen by pulling her into a warm hug. “Don’t worry honey, we’ll get you through this, and once you graduate you can continue with your career. This won’t affect anything.”
“You know I might not live through this,” Helen quietly pointed out, leaning into her hug, before pulling away due to another coughing fit.
“Yes, you will,” Lavender firmly replied, grabbing Helen’s bag from off the floor. “Now, let’s go. We shall not waste any precious time.” With that said, she turned on her heels and headed out the door. Helen turned off all the lights in the apartment and glanced around once, before grabbing her guitar case and locking the door. She quietly followed Lavender to her car, opening the side door and getting inside, placing her guitar case between her legs.
The drive, which took no longer than 40 minutes, was quiet except for the music streaming through the radio. The songs that were played – filled with no emotion whatsoever and probably recorded just to get more money – set Helen on an edge, until finally she had to turn the radio off to calm her mind.
When they neared the boarding school for fledglings, Helen could see the school through the car’s window. The school loomed over them like a threatening castle, causing a shudder to go down her spine. She noted with interest that the nearer they got to the school, the less coughs she shed. When Lavender finally parked the car in the parking lot, butterflies filled Helen’s stomach and her fingers twitched, longing to feel the strings of her guitar, the one thing that could always calm her nerves.
“Well,” Lavender broke the silence. “This is how far I can go. You’re going to have to enter the school alone.”
Helen nodded stiffly and got out of the car, her hand gripping the handle on her guitar case. Lavender got out too, and handed Helen her suitcase quietly. Helen accepted it without a word.
After a couple of seconds, lavender stepped forward and brought her into a calming hug. Helen closed her eyes and let Lavender hold her.
“It will be all right, you’ll see. Just be yourself and everyone will love you,” Lavender promised, and Helen’s lips twitched at the mother-like statement. “Remember, you can call me anytime you like, and I’ll be here for you when you go through this.” Lavender held her out at arms’ length; staring into her eyes and making sure she understood what she was saying.
“Okay, thank you,” Helen said, forcing one of her warm smiles to appear on her face. She knew she didn’t quite succeed when her bottom lip quivered. “I’m scared,” she whispered then.
“Don’t be scared, child. The vampyres aren’t as bad as they seem,” Lavender was quick to assure her. “How could they be, when you’re one of them?” Helen smiled at her words, and Lavender smiled back. “I’m afraid I must go now, honey. I love you,” she said, kissing Helen’s forehead, over her Mark, before getting into her car again and driving away with a small wave.
“I love you too,” Helen whispered into the empty air, before turning back towards the school that loomed over her. She took a deep breath, the grip of her guitar case tightening further. “Let’s do this,” she whispered, and headed for the front gates.
To Comment Please Go Here
